n today’s energy market, managing the natural gas supply for the industrial and tertiary sectors is no longer simply a matter of negotiating the price per kWh. With the consolidation of the tariff reform introduced by CNMC Circular 6/2020, the center of gravity of savings has shifted toward capacity management and real-time data control: telemetry (remote metering).

For companies operating with RL5, RL6, RL7, and RL8 network tariffs, telemetry is not just a technical upgrade; it is the determining factor that can inflate or reduce the fixed component of the bill by thousands of euros annually. In this guide, we analyze the regulatory requirements, the hidden hardware costs, and how to avoid penalties for flow exceedances.

What is telemetry and why is it critical to the industry?

Telemetry is a remote monitoring system that communicates to the distribution company—daily or even hourly—the actual gas consumption and the maximum flow peak used.

Unlike the basic remote management system, telemetry activates a capacity reservation billing model. This means that it:

• Records actual consumption continuously.
• Identifies the maximum daily peak, which determines potential penalties.
• Eliminates flexibility: if the contracted flow is not perfectly sized, the cost automatically increases.

RL toll classification: When is telemetry mandatory?

Gas consumers in Spain are classified according to their supply pressure and annual consumption. Under current regulations for the 2025–2026 period, Local Network (RL) tariffs are divided into eight groups. However, the requirement for telemetry follows strict consumption criteria.

According to the Royal Decree 1434/2002, telemetry is imperative for supplies with a consumption greater than 5 GWh/year (5,000,000 kWh), what corresponds to tolls RL7 and RL8.

However, the market has evolved. In RL5 and RL6 groups (consumption between 300,001 and 5,000,000 kWh/year), although regulations allow conventional metering in some cases, most energy retailers and distribution companies are pushing for the transition to telemetry.

Why? Because it enables billing based on the actual Daily Capacity Reservation (Qd), eliminating estimates and aligning charges with the daily use of the network.

RL tariff table and metering strategy (2025–2026)

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The RL5 factor: The beginning of critical industrial management

For a residential consumer (RL1–RL3), the impact of the fixed charge is linear and predictable. However, once entering the RL5 tier, the customer profile is usually industrial (textile, food processing, ceramics) or large tertiary sector facilities (hotels, shopping centers).

In this segment, telemetry records the Daily Flow Rate (kWh/day). If a company does not actively manage this data, it faces two critical scenarios:

Oversized Flow Capacity:
The company contracts a flow rate much higher than its actual maximum peak “just in case.” This means paying an oversized fixed charge 365 days a year.

Undersized Flow Capacity:
A lower flow is contracted to save on the fixed charge, but a temporary production peak exceeds the limit. With telemetry, the penalty is automatic and calculated by multiplying the excess by a penalty coefficient that can triple the base cost of that day.

The hidden cost: Measuring equipment rental

It is a mistake to assume that renting a telemetry-enabled gas meter costs the same as a traditional one. In accordance with the Order ETU/1283/2017,  rental prices are regulated and justified by the complexity of the hardware (high-precision sensors, PTZ volume correctors, and GPRS/5G modems).

• Conventional meters ($Q\ leq 10 m^3/h$): The rates range from 0.58€ and €1.10 monthly.
• Industrial meters ($Q > 10 m^3/h$): The monthly fee is calculated as the 1.25% (12.5 per 1000) of the average value of the counter.
• Telemetry equipment: A fixed charge of €76.99 monthly for a single line.

Renting industrial equipment with telemetry is significantly more expensive. This increase must be compensated for by a flow optimization strategy; otherwise, telemetry will only be an additional operating cost with no return.

5. Penalties for excess flow: The financial “whiplash”

With telemetry, the calculation of excess flow is daily and extremely accurate. According to the methodology consolidated in the CNMC Circular 6/2020 and updated for the current financial year through the CNMC resolution of May 2025, the penalty does not consist of a fixed fine. This is a proportional surcharge that is applied to each kWh that exceeds the Contracted Daily Flow ($Qd$), using a multiplier coefficient that dramatically increases the cost of the fixed term that day.

Instead, it is a proportional surcharge applied to each kWh exceeding the Contracted Daily Flow ($Qd$), using a multiplier coefficient that drastically increases the cost of the fixed component for that day.

If an industrial plant has a contracted Qd of 5,000 kWh/day and on a day of intense production consumes 6,500 kWh/day, the distributor will bill those 1,500 excess kWh at a price significantly higher than the ordinary rate.

In sectors with high seasonality, these penalties can represent an additional annual cost of 15% to 25% if the contract is not proactively adjusted.

How to optimize your contract: The value of centralized management

Most companies review the price of gas each year, but almost none review whether their contracted flow capacity matches their current operational reality.

To truly optimize the bill, it is necessary to:

• Analyze the historical daily peak demand, not just monthly consumption.
• Understand the seasonality of business activity.
• Simulate scenarios: would it be cheaper to pay an occasional penalty or maintain a higher flow capacity all year?

Polaroo: Your ally in operational efficiency

Managing multiple energy supplies and understanding the complexity of telemetry can be overwhelming for finance or operations departments. This is where Polaroo makes the difference.

Through its utility management platform, Polaroo centralizes all the information related to your gas contracts, allowing you to:

Total multi-site automation:
Our AI automatically centralizes and extracts all the data from your gas invoices, regardless of how many locations you manage. Say goodbye to human error and time-consuming manual processes.

Flow capacity audit:
We analyze your historical consumption data to instantly detect whether your contracted flow is excessive (wasted cost) or insufficient (penalty risk).

Data-driven optimization:
We do not guess. We cross-reference telemetry technical data with the operational reality of your business to adjust your capacity reservation to the exact point of maximum profitability.

The human factor:
Our technology detects inefficiencies, and our experts implement the necessary actions. A closed optimization loop that ensures your contract is always the most competitive on the market.

Conclusion: Data is savings

Telemetry is not a “trap”; it is a precision tool. The real hidden cost of gas in 2026 is not the price of the molecule, but passive management of capacity and flow rates.

If your company falls within RL5 to RL8 groups, the key question is no longer how much you pay per kWh, but:

Is my contracted flow capacity aligned with my real consumption peaks?

Do you want to stop guessing and start optimizing?

Let experts like Polaroo analyze your data and turn your gas bill into an efficiency asset for your business.